


I'm Here

by brokenbutstillstanding



Series: In The Calm Of The Storm [2]
Category: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Comfort, F/M, LoZ - Freeform, Nightmares, PTSD, Rape Aftermath, Remnants - Freeform, Turks - Freeform, kadaj - Freeform, protective reno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-04 01:08:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13353306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenbutstillstanding/pseuds/brokenbutstillstanding
Summary: The first time Reno saw any inkling that her tortures had any effect on Elena was their first overnight mission together since she had returned.“I’m here. No one will hurt you ever again.”





	I'm Here

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to make a second part to my fanfic "Family" so go check that out! You don't have to read it to understand this one but it would help.

The first time Reno saw any inkling that her tortures had any effect on Elena was their first overnight mission together since she had returned. To be completely honest he had been starting to worry a bit for his blonde coworker, it was almost as though everything was completely normal. But it wasn’t. The still healing cut on her face reminded them both of that. 

Reno had been dozing in a light sleep in the hotel room they were sharing (which Elena had spent most of the day complaining about) when he was startled out of his foggy dreams by a sharp scream.

He bolted up, immediately identifying the source of the noise. Elena was screaming and thrashing on the bed next to his, tears were streaming down her cheeks and she was yelling through terrified breaths.

“No! Don’t touch me!” 

Reno shot out of bed towards the woman, grasping her arms and pinning them to the bed to keep her from hurting herself with all her flailing.

“Elena! Elena wake up! You are safe! Everything is fine!” He called desperately, shaking her a little.

His muscles were straining to hold her down, she was a Turk for a reason after all, and she was a strong one at that.

“Please don’t! No! It hurts! Stop it!” 

Her screaming sent emotions shooting through his body that he didn’t want to discern. Sadness and hurt for his friend, anger and fury at the people who had done this.

Her brown eyes shot open, but they barely focused on Reno. Instead she seemed to look past him, pupils dilated in fear as she registered her wrists being trapped against the mattress. 

“No…please no…no more…let go of me!” she whimpered as she tried in vain to wriggle out of Reno’s grasp.

The redhead felt disgusting. He knew he had to hold her down for her own safety (not to mention his) but no self-respecting and morally conscious man would feel good about this situation. Especially after what he knew she had been through.

After visiting Tseng and Elena in the hospital his boss had filled him in a little more on what had happened. He didn’t go into detail when it came to what Loz did to Elena, he didn’t seem to want to recall it himself, but it was enough to make Reno see red.

After all, it was no secret he was protective of his family, and thats exactly what the Turks were.

He had excused himself and headed directly to the training room that ShinRa offered. Hours later Rude had discovered him there, knuckles bloody, the targets and punching bags ripped to shreds, and the rage in Reno’s eyes no less cooled than it had been. The bald man had only offered some antiseptic to his partner and they had gone to drink themselves silly. Since the hospital, Reno had discovered him in the same position many times.

“Elena, stop it! Its me, Reno. I’m not going to hurt you. You are safe. I’m here, and I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you. I’ll rip the hands off anyone who tries to touch you. I’ll tear their spinal columns out through their mouths.” 

He hoped the affirmations of her safety would calm her a little, but as he went he could feel the familiar anger building up inside him and his affirmations started to turn into threats. Either way it seemed to work, Elena’s brown eyes focused a little more and they made contact with his blue ones.

He let out a sigh of relief at seeing her come back to reality.

“Reno?” She gasped, a little hoarse but no longer struggling. 

He released her wrists finally and sat up to give her some space. He watched her come to her senses, rubbing where he had grabbed her and slowly managing the lost look in her eyes.

Reno could feel it. He was about to break. He had been so careful ever since she had been released from the hospital to tread lightly. He made sure he was there for her, a shoulder to cry on should she ever feel the need, the same reliable partner and friend, but he had been more careful with his touches. He’d seen the pain in Tseng’s eyes when she flinched away from him as he tried to hand her some paperwork, he’d noticed the way she’d jumped when Rude surprised her by speaking up from behind her. He knew it wasn’t them she was afraid of, but he didn’t think he would be able to handle it if she gave him that same look of fear. But he’d been fighting ever since then, all he wanted was to wrap her in his arms and hold her.

His fingers twitched with the longing to do so when she made the decision for him, her arms flung around his neck as tears fell onto the neckline of his nightshirt. He wasted no time in wrapping his limbs around her back, one hand reaching up to her head and the other hugging around her waist.  
“Its okay ‘Lena, I’m here. Nothing is going to hurt you.” He barely registered that he was still repeating the comforts of earlier, he just felt like they needed to be said, as much for him as for her.

Not for the first time he resented the fact that the remnants had met their demise. What he wouldn’t give to snap their necks. For Tseng. For Elena. For his family. After the hospital visit Reno would lay away in his bed, dreaming up what he would do. He would snap Kadaj’s fingers one by one for every bruise on Tseng’s body. He would carve into Yazoo until his body was dyed as red as Reno’s hair. But oh, did he have plans for Loz. In his perfect dreams he would make him beg for mercy. If he were a gentlemen he would share the torture with his colleagues, especially Tseng and Elena, but he was a selfish man and he wanted to make him hurt. He wanted him to hurt for the depravity of what he had done to Elena. The pure violative torture he had inflicted. Oh yes, he had plans for Loz.

He didn’t realize his arms were tightening around Elena in anger until she let out a small squeak.

“Um…Reno?” Her voice called tentatively.

“Sorry” he apologized quickly and relaxed his hold, burying his face into his shoulder in a moment of selfish comfort.

He felt her nuzzle her own head into his shoulder and tighten her grasp as she was almost completely enveloped into Reno’s larger body. It was almost as though she was trying to disappear, but he could no longer feel any tears on his skin. They just sat that way, grasping onto each other like a lifeline, in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. But Reno had never felt more at peace.

“I’m here. No one will hurt you ever again.”


End file.
